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4 Stocks Breaking Out on Big Volume

DELAFIELD, Wis. (Stockpickr) -- Professional traders running mutual funds and hedge funds don't just look at a stock's price moves; they also track big changes in volume activity. Often when above-average volume moves into an equity, it precedes a large spike in volatility.

Major moves in volume can signal unusual activity, such as insider buying or selling -- or buying or selling by "superinvestors."

Unusual volume can also be a major signal that hedge funds and momentum traders are piling into a stock ahead of a catalyst. These types of traders like to get in well before a large spike, so it's always a smart move to monitor unusual volume. That said, remember to combine trend and price action with unusual volume. Put them all together to help you decipher the next big trend for any stock.

Criteo (CRTO - Get Report), together with its subsidiaries, operates as a technology company that enables e-commerce companies to leverage large volumes of granular data to engage and convert their customers. This stock closed up 4.4% at $38.76 in Wednesday's trading session.

From a technical perspective, CRTO spiked sharply higher here with strong upside volume. This move briefly pushed shares of CRTO into breakout territory, since the stock flirted with or took out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $37.65 to $38.95. Shares of CRTO closed just below that second breakout level of $38.95 to finish the trading session at $38.76. Market players should now look for a continuation move higher in the short-term if CRTO manages to take out Wednesday's high of $40.57 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in CRTO as long as it's trending above Wednesday's low of $38.14 or above $37 and then once it sustains a move or close above $40.57 with volume that's near or above 186,518 shares. If we get that move soon, then CRTO will set up to re-test or possibly take out its all-time high at $45.